Brewery: J.W. Lees
Origin: Middleton, Manchester, England
ABV: 5.0%
Version: 500ml bottle
Source: Tesco

To my great shame, I’ve lived in Manchester for sixteen years and yet this is the first one of local brewery J.W. Lees’ beers I’ve sampled. In my defence: when I first came to the city theirs was the local brew with the roughest reputation – and judging by the state of some of their city-centre pubs back then, you could see why – so, I readily admit, I was pretty effectively scared off.

Older and (hopefully) wiser now, I decided it was time to take the plunge when I spotted a bottle of their premium ale (named after the brewery’s founder, John Willy Lees) and I’m happy to report that I’m very glad I did.

John Willies has a mid-brown, amber colour, is light on the nose and is smooth, with nutty caramel tones, and a rich and sweet, rounded overall flavour. There’s a lingering sugary, almost syrupy texture which makes for an entirely pleasant sipping beer. Less bite than some of the similar 5% ales I’ve tried in the past, but I’d be happy to try a draught pint – at the slightly lower 4.5% – to see how it compares. Time for a trip up the road to Middleton, I reckon.